Just one day after being appointed best pitcher in the Pacific division in the most recent season of the Japanese Professional Baseball League (NPB, for its acronym in English), Cuban Liván Moinelo rose one more step by winning the distinction as the Most Valuable Player (MVP) of that segment of the circuit.
The announcement came out this Wednesday, during the celebration of the NPB Annual Awards Gala, held in Tokyo, according to a note published by the specialized portal Japanese Baseball.
The #npb announces the Most Valuable Player award for Liván Moinelo, who led the entire #npb this year with a 1.46 ERA. https://t.co/UTwy6VmZhe
— Japanese Baseball.com (@beisboljapones) November 26, 2025
In this way, the left-hander from Pinar del Río is rewarded for his spectacular performance during the 2025 campaign, in which he once again led the starting staff of the SoftBank Falcons, who returned to the throne of the Japan Series by beating the Hanshin Tigers, champions of the Central League, in the final.
The 29-year-old junior, with nine years of experience at the highest level in Japan, posted the highest ERA in the entire NPB, with an average of earned runs per game of 1.46.
Among his most notable numbers are also 172 strikeouts and a balance of 12 wins against just three setbacks.
In this way, he became the fourth Latin player to win the award, and the first since 2009, when Venezuelan Alex Ramírez won it for the second consecutive time. The others were also dark-skinned Roberto Petagine (2001) and Alex Cabrera (2002), the publication states.
Latino winners of the Most Valuable Player award of the regular season.
2025: Livan Moinelo
2009: Alex Ramirez
2008: Alex Ramirez
2002: Alex Cabrera
2001: Roberto Petagine pic.twitter.com/37nYnK0Qe5— Japanese Baseball.com (@beisboljapones) November 26, 2025
In the vote, the return player surpassed the Dominican Franmil Reyes by 983 points to 257, the other Latino who appeared this year in the Pacific League Ideal team, in the position of designated hitter.
The MVP of the Central League went to Teruaki Sato, the third baseman of Hanshin’s Tigers, who led the entire NPB in several areas, including home runs (40) and runs batted in (102).
The Rookie of the Year award winners were awarded to reliever Kota Shoji (Yakult Swallows) in the Central division, and outfielder Misho Nishikawa (Lotte Sailors) in the Pacific.
His first MVP award in Japan means for Moinelo the best closing of a dream season, in which he reaffirmed himself as one of the most reliable starters in the NPB today, thus justifying the move to his new role.
To the satisfaction of the Falcons management, since that bold move, with a record-breaking millionaire contract, the left-hander has posted an extraordinary record of 23-5.
A year ago, Moinelo was chosen as the Latino of the Year, an award established in 2010 to recognize the player from that geographic area with the best performance in the campaign.
He then won the distinction for the second time since arriving in Japan, having previously achieved it in the 2020 campaign, when he also won the award as best middle reliever in the Pacific League.
